Diego De La Hoya Is A Legit Fighter Not Just Oscar’s Cousin

He’s not as famous as his older cousin Oscar, but Diego De La Hoya is making a name for himself each time he steps into a boxing ring.

Just 21 years old, the “Golden Kid” had over 250 amateur bouts and was a Mexican National Olympics Silver Medalist before signing with Oscar’s Golden Boy Promotions two years ago.

On the Canelo vs. Smith undercard this Saturday, Diego De La Hoya (15-0, 9 KOs) will fight for the third time this year when he meets Luis Orlando Del Valle. In the eyes of many boxing experts, the super-bantamweight prospect has shown marked progress and looks to put on another outstanding performance on the biggest stage of his career.

Some thought the weight of living up to his family’s boxing lineage would be too much for young Diego, but he continues to prove critics wrong with each victory.

“At first I felt a lot of pressure but now I realize it’s just a last name and I go in the ring and just fight,” De La Hoya told Blitz Weekly.

As a fighter on Saturday nights undercard, De La Hoya is playing a big role this weekend which is intended to showcase how Golden Boy’s stable is being replenished from the losses of champions like heavyweight Deontay Wilder, welterweight Keith Thurman and featherweight Leo Santa Cruz, who defected to Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champion last year.

Fortunately for De La Hoya, his rise to championship stardom is being guided by legendary boxing trainer Joel Diaz who knows a thing or two about making champions. Diaz currently trains Omar Figueroa, Ruslan Provodnikov and Abner Mares who are all current or former champions. He’s also played a big role in the early career success of current WBO welterweight champion Timothy Bradley.

In Diaz’s eyes, De La Hoya is right on track towards joining his other boxers in the champions club.

“Diego is a kid who has been coming up in the ranks because of his activity, he’s been active; he’s been fighting constantly,” Diaz said – . “He’s been progressing as you can see every time he fights you can see a big improvement in him. So we can see that his promoter is trying to bring him up to a world championship next year or so and activity means everything and that what he needs and that’s what he’s getting.”

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About Kendrick E. Johnson

Kendrick Johnson writes for a daily newspaper and is an independent print journalist and sports television reporter who has covered the NBA Finals, NFL, NCAA football, MLB, NHL, championship boxing and UFC Fights. He's done numerous one on one interviews with some of the biggest names and personalities in sports. He can be reached on Twitter @kendrickjohnso